


it's not a crush

by magnificentbirb



Series: this song for you [2]
Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Daniel Is Hopeless, M/M, Minhyun Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 21:25:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15737637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magnificentbirb/pseuds/magnificentbirb
Summary: In which Daniel is definitely not breaking his computer because he thinks the IT guy is hot.





	it's not a crush

“Again?”

Daniel ignores Jisung’s skepticism, shoving his battered laptop—shattered screen and all—into his bag. 

“Daniel, this is three times in the last two months,” Jisung says, kneeling backwards on the couch so he can hit Daniel with the full force of his incredulous stare. “You either need to invest in a new laptop brand or stop trying to do pilates with your computer balanced on a barstool.”

“How else am I supposed to see what Sharon is going to do next?” Daniel asks, slinging the bag over his shoulder.

Jisung drops his head with a groan, pressing his forehead against the couch. “Daniel, Daniel, Daniel,” he says, “is this all because you have a crush on that IT guy? This is idiotic. You’re being idiotic. He’s going to think you’re a computer murderer, and _IT guys love computers_.”

“That’s not—it’s not about that,” Daniel says, but he can feel his cheeks heating. “I’m just having bad luck lately, okay? This has nothing to do with Seongwoo-hyung.”

Jisung lifts his head. “Oh, you’re on a first name basis with him now? Did that come with replacement computer number one or number two?”

“... Two,” Daniel mutters, and then heads for the door, trying not to act like he’s running away. “Look, I’ll be back before dinner. This shouldn’t take too long.”

“Have a nice date!” Jisung calls after him.

Daniel definitely doesn’t slam the door on his way out.

*

It’s not a crush. 

At least that’s what Daniel keeps telling himself, and if he repeats it enough times, surely it’ll become true. Because it’s not a crush. Kang Daniel is not cliché enough to form a crush on a senior working in the IT lounge at his university, because he swore to Woojin his college life wouldn’t become a run-of-the-mill rom-com ( _“make it a sci-fi horror movie or nothing,”_ Woojin had insisted, and as a science major with plenty of lab time, Daniel was trying his best to do just that), so it’s _not a crush_. It’s just… an interest. And a friendly one, at that. No feelings. No fluttery sensations in his abdomen when he sees a crooked smile, no blush crimsoning his neck when black hair falls just so over dark, laughing eyes. Just interest.

But that normal, simple interest—in friendship, just friendship, no more than that, honest—has turned into a bit of a… preoccupation. Daniel has started to find himself coming up with any reason to visit the IT lounge. Once it was because Daniel’s hard-drive crapped out ( _on its own this time, thank you very much_ ); he got to chat with Seongwoo for about ten minutes before social convention declared he leave the broken computer behind. Another time it was because Jaehwan spilled coffee all over his keyboard while composing in the wee hours of the morning, and Daniel leapt at the opportunity to claim he “knew a guy” who could get it fixed up in no time, which led to Daniel depositing a still damp laptop in front of Seongwoo’s handsome, startled face the next day, to which Seongwoo said, with a smile that made Daniel’s heart flip, “Wow, your friends are just as terrible at this at you are,” and, well. Daniel’s been rather hopeless ever since. 

But it’s not a crush, he swears. He just likes chatting with Seongwoo, about his friends, about whatever the basketball team did over the weekend, about how the heck he keeps breaking his devices.

And if Daniel ends up thinking about Seongwoo sometimes even when he _doesn’t_ have a malfunctioning computer, well. 

It’s still not a crush.

*

Seongwoo stares at the shattered laptop, eyebrow cocked. Then he looks at Daniel, standing nearby with a hangdog look and his hands shoved in his pockets, and then back at the laptop.

“Your poor electronics,” Seongwoo says, shaking his head. “They never stand a chance, do they?”

Daniel chuckles nervously, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Bad luck has been following me around lately, I suppose,” he says. 

“I’ll say.” Seongwoo pokes at the cracked laptop casing with the tip of his ballpoint pen. “How does this even happen? Did you throw it from a speeding car?”

“No, no, it… dropped. From a barstool.”

Seongwoo gives him a flat stare. “A barstool.”

Daniel grins sheepishly. “There were pilates involved.”

“Stop.” Seongwoo closes his eyes and holds up a hand. “I don’t need to know any more.” He taps the laptop again. “Look, this is a bit out of my expertise to fix. If you just needed a new hard-drive or some file recovery or something, I’ve got your back, but this looks like it’ll require the tender attention of our repair specialist.” He smiles, sympathetic, and Daniel’s heart does a warm little wiggle. “Did you at least get that insurance I recommended the last time you were here?”

“I, uh. No.” Daniel feels a bit distracted; Seongwoo is wearing a white button-up today, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the first button casually popped. It’s a very good look on him.

“Daniel,” Seongwoo says with a sigh. “Are you really this hopeless, or are you doing this on purpose?”

Daniel startles, looking up quickly. “What? No. What?”

Seongwoo leans against the table, grinning. “Nobody breaks three laptops in five weeks. You have to be doing this on purpose.” He pillows his chin on his hand. “Are you trying to avoid an assignment? Is it some sort of weird bet? Or are you just doing it to see my pretty face?” He frames his face with his hands, batting his eyelashes, and Daniel can’t help but let out a panicked laugh.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” he says. “I’m just clumsy.”

Seongwoo blinks at him. “Right,” he drawls. He straightens, caps his pen. “Welp. I recommend you keep this here with us, so we can see what our lead tech guy can do about it. And I recommend you get the insurance this time, since you tend to be so ‘clumsy.’”

“Yeah, I’ll do that. Thanks.” Daniel isn’t sure why he suddenly feels a bit empty, or why Seongwoo turning away from him to start collecting some paperwork sends a slight pang through his chest, but there’s a part of him that wonders whether he just missed an opportunity.

*

And that’s how Kang Daniel ends up at the campus IT store yet again a few weeks later, toting along an insured laptop that shockingly no longer has a few of its keys.

The greeter at the IT lounge—a short freshman with dyed hair and a name tag that says _Daehwi_ in a loopy scrawl—clearly recognizes him. He gives him a rather judgmental once-over, sees the laptop case slung over Daniel’s shoulder, and sighs.

“Seongwoo-hyung isn’t here today,” the freshman says. “Is there something I can help you with?”

“I, uh.” Daniel blinks, trying to reel in his surprise. _He knows?_ “I need keys.” Daniel unzips the laptop case and sets the laptop on the tall table near Daehwi’s elbow. “I accidentally popped a few off and I don’t know where they went.”

Daewhi opens the laptop, eyes the missing G, K, S, and space keys, and lets out another heavy sigh.

“Give me a few minutes,” Daehwi says, already heading for the back room. “I’ll see if we have any spares. If not, you might need to pay for a full keyboard replacement.”

“That’s fine,” Daniel calls after him. “I have insurance. Thanks!”

Daniel shoves his hands into his jacket pockets, trying not to feel uncomfortable. He feels eyes on him, and he knows that the other IT guys are watching him, probably for the same reason Daehwi sighed at him.

A tall, dark-haired guy sidles up to Daniel, warm eyes crinkling as he smiles. His name tag says _Minhyun_.

“Seongwoo works on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons, and every other Saturday,” the guy says quietly. “He has class today.”

Daniel’s brain screeches to a stop, because honestly, _do they all know_ , but he’s too polite to not respond, so he garbles out a quick, “Thank you,” which makes Minhyun grin. Then Daehwi is back and Minhyun slides away and Daniel is forced to sign for a new keyboard because there’s no extra space keys anywhere in the back, no matter how hard Daehwi looks.

“I’ll tell Seongwoo-hyung you were here,” Daehwi says absently as he’s ringing Daniel up.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Daniel says, flushing. “He probably doesn’t—”

Daehwi fixes Daniel with a Look, shutting him up. “He’ll want to know he missed you. Trust me. It’s no trouble.” He hands back Daniel’s insurance paperwork with a little smile and pushes the box with the new keyboard in it across the counter. “Have a nice day.”

“Thanks,” Daniel says, scooping up the keyboard. He leaves the store feeling a bit dazed, Daehwi’s words echoing in his mind:

_He’ll want to know he missed you._

*

It’s Friday afternoon. Daniel is sprawled on his bed, fiddling with his phone, checking emails even though he should be writing a paper on the fall of the Romanovs. With a sigh, he lowers his phone, staring up at the water-stained ceiling of his dorm room. 

_He’ll want to know he missed you._

Daniel has been thinking about those words for days. He’s considered the implications, and the main standout is that Seongwoo has spoken about him—possibly multiple times—to the other student workers at the IT lounge. Not only has Seongwoo spoken about him, but he must have spoken about him _fondly_ , in a way that would make Daehwi believe that Seongwoo would want to know that he missed Daniel coming into the store, which meant that Seongwoo quite possibly actually, honestly, _missed_ Daniel, as in wished he could see him and was disappointed when he didn’t.

Daniel presses his hands against his face, unable to keep himself from smiling.

_He’ll want to know he missed you._

Daniel’s phone vibrates. He lifts it to find a text from _sparrow_ : _you’re freaking out about your crush aren’t you_

Daniel makes a face and types out his response: _it’s not a crush_

A few seconds later: _kang daniel you fool when will you realize_

Followed quickly by: _just embrace the cliche okay, ong seongwoo is hot and you clearly like him_

Daniel types back: _how do you know i like him you nosy little gremlin_

Woojin responds: _daehwi told me you came in this week with another broken computer. how many is that again, remind me_

Daniel glares at his phone, about to formulate a snarky response, but then he pauses, Daehwi’s words still echoing in his head.

_He’ll want to know he missed you._

After a moment of deliberation, Daniel types out his next message carefully, and then stares at it, reading it over before he presses send:

_fine. maybe i like him. i’ll embrace the cliche and be a true smitten college student, are you happy now_

A few seconds later, from Woojin: _thrilled. now go get ‘im tiger_

Daniel responds: _you know this means you might not get your sci-fi horror flick right_

From Woojin: _the year is still young_

Daniel rests his phone on his chest, exhaling slowly. 

_I like him_ , he thinks. _I like Seongwoo._ He pauses as the next thought comes into his head, a tiny frisson of panic on its heels:

_Now what?_

Frustrated, Daniel lifts his phone again and returns to his email account, pulling his thumb down on the screen to refresh his sad, empty inbox one last time, and then a new message appears, bold and unread at the top of his inbox.

It’s from ong.seongwoo, and the domain name belongs to their university.

Daniel sits up so fast he gives himself a headrush. The message subject reads, **New laptop covers in stock!**

Daniel stares at the email for a few seconds, marveling at the fact that Seongwoo—senior Seongwoo, hot-IT-guy Seongwoo, _he’ll-want-to-know-he-missed-you_ Seongwoo—just sent him an email. That means Seongwoo thought of him without him being there, thought of him enough to _send him an email._

Daniel can’t stop smiling as he opens the message:

_Dear Computer Menace,_

_We got a new shipment of laptop covers into the store yesterday. Thought maybe you’d be interested, considering your track record. I’ll be here until 6 today, and from 10 to 4 tomorrow, if you’d like to stop by and give me some commission. (And protect your poor, helpless devices.)_

_Sincerely,  
A Pretty Face_

Daniel reads the message three times before he finally manages to wrangle in his glee enough to type out a half-coherent answer:

_Dear Pretty Face,_

_The Menace is interested. I’ll be there in about an hour._

*

Daniel arrives at the IT lounge with a bounce in his step and Jisung’s parting words ringing in his ears ( _“OH MY GOD HAVE FUN ON YOUR SECOND DATE”_ ). He pauses briefly to fix his hair and adjust his jacket before heading inside.

“Ah, the infamous computer menace.” Minhyun greets him with a smile, looking up from the thick textbook lying open in front of him on the checkout counter. “Seongwoo will be with you in a second, he’s just in the back.”

“Probably primping,” mutters a tall, gangly kid, leaning against the wall and scrolling through his phone; his name tag says _Guan Lin_.

“Who needs to primp when I always look this good?” Seongwoo asks as he emerges from the back room, reaching up to muss Guan Lin’s hair as he passes by. The kid swats back at him, but it’s half-hearted and misses his shoulder by a mile.

“So, Mr. Menace.” Seongwoo turns to Daniel with a flourish, grinning. “Ready to look at some laptop covers?”

And there’s something about Seongwoo’s grin—something about the glint in his eye, the dark hair curling over his forehead, the fond curve of his smile—that suddenly makes Daniel feel brave. 

“Actually,” Daniel says, straightening, “I’m, ah. I’m here to see you.”

Seongwoo freezes, his eyes going wide. He glances at the other guys in the IT lounge, all of whom are similarly frozen, trying not to look like they’re eavesdropping. 

“Say what now?” Seongwoo says.

“I’m here to see you,” Daniel repeats. He clears his throat, shuffling his feet. “I’d, uh. I’d like to ask you out, actually. If you’re okay with that.”

“Oh, uh...” Seongwoo trails off, a bit dazed, and Daniel panics silently for a moment until Seongwoo continues with, “Yeah. Yeah, I’d be good with that.”

Daniel's brain short circuits for a second before he realizes that Seongwoo just said yes.

“Really?” Daniel blurts.

That makes Seongwoo laugh. “Yeah, really. Why do you think I’ve been telling the guys to direct all of your maintenance appointments to me? Do you really think all I wanted from you was commission for some laptop covers?” He grins, and Daniel’s heart flips. “You’re cute, computer menace. And I’d like to go out with you, too. If you’re okay with that.”

“Oh my god just date already,” Guan Lin drawls from across the store. “We’ll cover your shift, go be gross somewhere else.”

“Kids these days,” Seongwoo says, shaking his head.

“No respect,” Daniel says.

“So does this mean that you’re done breaking all of your devices as excuses to flirt with me?” Seongwoo asks, already removing his nametag, which he stuffs into his pocket.

“I think my wallet and my roommates would both appreciate that,” Daniel says.

“Good.” Seongwoo steps around Daniel to the door, holding it open with a smile. “Coffee’s on me, then. To ease your poor wallet’s pain.”

“Speaking of wallet pain…” Minhyun rests his chin on one hand and holds the other out in front of him, crooking his fingers expectantly. “It’s time for a certain skeptical freshman to pay up.”

“And you wonder why we don’t respect our elders,” Guan Lin mutters, trudging across the store to deposit a crumpled wad of bills into Minhyun’s palm.

“Go have fun, Seongwoo,” Minhyun says, closing his fingers over his winnings. “And I’m sure we’ll see you around, Kang Daniel.” 

Daniel frowns; he doesn’t think he’s ever told Minhyun his name before. “How do you know—?” 

“Let’s go, let’s go,” Seongwoo says, gently ushering Daniel out the door. “I’d like to have at least one date without you knowing the full extent of my friends’ nosiness.” 

Still a bit befuddled, Daniel nods politely at Minhyun, who waves them cheerily out of the store, and then he’s alone outside the store with Seongwoo.

“So.” Seongwoo hooks his thumbs into his pockets and fixes Daniel with an expectant, rather nervous look. Daniel thinks it just might be the cutest he’s ever looked. “Where to?”

The first terribly cheesy thought in Daniel’s head is, _Anywhere_ , but because he doesn’t want to scare Seongwoo off too soon, he instead tugs gently at Seongwoo’s sleeve and starts off in the direction of the closest coffee shop.

“Coffee’s good with me,” he says, and can’t help but smile when Seongwoo grins and falls into step beside him.

Maybe a rom-com college life won't be so bad, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> continuing my little series of ongniel fics to keep me in the swing of writing. this is completely unbeta'ed, so apologies for anything super dumb.
> 
> thanks for reading~!


End file.
